Asian Border Traveler

Burma

2007-10-04T13:17:00.000+09:00

One has to be blatantly ignorant not to be disturbed by the latest developments in Burma (or Myanmar). Everybody hates the old-school types of military juntas (in fact, is there any nation in this world totally independent of the 'military industrial complex' ?). But more disturbing is perhaps the acknowledgement that everything (again) hinges with the realpolitik of

Deglobalised in a Gion Heterotopia

2007-03-16T00:29:00.000+09:00

Kyōto, Gion, 15/03/2007 - 15:33Heterotopia?A Greek friend of mine defined it as 'a site where numerous objects (commodities, peoples, cultural ideas) that (logically) shouldn't be together are converging, seizing, interacting within a single space at a certain time.'I don't know how much my friend referred to ideas by Foucault, Baudrillard (+) or Homi Bhaba, but he gave examples: Jean-Claude Van

Belgium's Linguistic Barrière

2007-01-06T00:21:00.001+09:00

St. Pieters Leeuw, 9 Dec 2006 / Kyoto, 6 Jan 2007(Here it goes again, an Asian attempt to exoticize a Europe that isn't as rational as we used to think she is)"Als we alles moeilijk kunnen maken, waarom moet het eenvoudig zijn?" ("If everything can be made difficult, why should we make it simple?"), laments a Belgian when he was asked how Belgium is managing her bilingual situation.BELGIUM'S

Macau's Lesser-known Aliens

2006-12-25T22:30:00.000+09:00

Macau dawn at Rua da FelicidadeMacau, 25 Dec 2006 / Chek Lap Kok Int'l airport, 26 Dec 2006Overshadowed by its popular neighbour Hongkong, Macau S.A.R.(Região Administrativa Especial de Macau da República Popular da China) has an interesting life of its own. A longtime Portuguese colony before she was silently handed over to China in 1999 without much fanfare, Macau has earlier become the leisure

Germany’s Ideological Borders Revisited

2006-12-18T23:43:00.000+09:00

(From a Border Discussion at the Schifflersgrund Grenzmuseum and preliminary oral histories collected from Lindewerra,Thüringen, December 2006*)Remains of the DDR border viewed from Hanstein Castle, Bornhagen,ThüringenThe history of Germany’s ideological boundary (1949-1990) that separated the former BRD (Bundes Republik Deutschland – better known as West Germany) and the DDR (Deutsche

Jungle Cosmopolitanism

2006-10-18T15:53:00.000+09:00

Tivai Ngang, Punan Busang headman of Long UnaiRetro Fieldnotes from Long Unai, Sarawak, January 2003Tivai Ngang, a man in his mid-fifties, doesn't need a passport to enjoy the fruits of global border crossings. The headman of a Punan Busang tribe in Sarawak that has moved over from Indonesia 22 years ago, bordercrossing and transnational associations are as close to his heart as hunting wild boar

Smokers Should Learn from Farters

2006-10-10T19:58:00.000+09:00

Kansai Airport, 9 October, 11:00 AMSarcastical smoker's warnings I found around Kansai airport - though the visuals aren't as concise as the Japanese are usually known for. The first picture obviously shows that these signs were designed for festival-attending tourists.And now, smokers should learn from farters:Useful information, just realized that a fart consists of deadly gases...(otherwise,

Random Images from Kansai Airport (Osaka)

2006-10-10T19:31:00.000+09:00

Kansai Airport, 9 October, 10:40 A.MAnother airport thingee. Kansai airport, built on an artificial island (built by the Dutch) in the Osaka/Kobe bay, is Japan's second largest hub after Tokyo's Narita airport.I noted one interesting souvenir shop: a Ninja shop. It's quite cool to bring a duty-free Ninja's outfit for display back home, unless you're from Basilan, Maluku, Poso or Pattani....

Suvarnabhumi Int'l Airport (part 2)

2006-10-10T19:19:00.001+09:00

A better look during my second transit at Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Int'l airport.Minor Glitches:Tranfer here please ! glitch excused (it's 'falang' language after all)Note below the confusing direction signs for immigration and baggage claims:

Lost in Sushi Translations

2006-10-06T23:42:00.000+09:00

Japan has earned a special place in the hearts of culinary travelers - and the most traditional of Japanese cuisines, in its original, truncated, fused or corrupted forms, have gone global - from Oslo to Capetown, from Dubai to Auckland, from Brooklyn to Bojonegoro...Of course, tourists flock in increasing numbers to Japan, and enjoying a traditional 'hardcore' Japanese meal is an important

Suvarnabhumi Int'l Airport: Thaksin's Last Megaproject

2006-10-02T15:29:00.000+09:00

Suvarnabhumi's boarding gatesBangkok, October 2, midnightBangkok's Don Muang International Airport finally closed its doors on the night of 27 September 2006, after 96 years in operation (and where it will then be transformed into a VIP/military airbase). Don Muang will forever stand as the symbol of Bangkok's transformation from a marginal Southeast Asian city into a regional and global hub,

Cockfighting in Upriver Sarawak: E-Gov Makes Things (not quite) Easier

2006-09-26T08:26:00.000+09:00

Apai Regang is expected to download a permit in PDF form if he wants to see his cock fight E-MALAYSIAWhen former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad urgently called for Malaysia's cyber-wiring back in 1996, the entire nation was dragged into an obsessive hi-tech internet craze, spearheaded by such Orwellian-sounding megaprojects like 'Cyberjaya', 'Malaysia Multimedia Super-Corridor', '

Roots of Asian Nationalisms & Globalisation (Notes from a talk by Benedict Anderson)

2006-09-26T01:35:00.000+09:00

"WE KEEP ON DISCOVERING NEW THINGS FROM THE PAST, AND CURRENT TRENDS OF TRYING TO BREAK UP HISTORY INTO THESE STUPID BOMBASTIC ADVERTISER-TYPE TIMELINES (E.G."POST-COLD WAR this", "POST-WW II that", "POST-9/11 this") SERVES NOTHING BUT TO OBSTRUCT OUR EFFORTS IN UNDERSTANDING HOW GLOBALIZATION OPERATES"I just stumbled upon old notes I took from a talk that Prof. Benedict R. O'G Anderson gave

Tips for Hunting Dji Sam Soe Abroad

2006-09-22T12:38:00.000+09:00

The Dji Sam Soe brand (pronounced G SAHM SOO), produced in the Indonesian port city of Surabaya since 1913, is considered by many as Indonesia's ultimate clove cigarette.Filterless and handrolled, containing a blend of American and Javanese tobacco, flavoured with Sulawesi cloves, the brand's ownership has recently shifted to, yes, Philip Morris (after PM bought out the majority of PT. H.M.

Batam's Jaded Dream

2006-09-19T11:15:00.000+09:00

Back in 1973, Presidential Decree no. 41 was full of big developmentalist dreams and hopes. Batam Island was the big ambition of the day, something our Indonesian Government projected to be "The next big thing after Singapore around the Malacca Strait"... Big hopes indeed for Batam back then: A projected bustling freeport Island, torrents of investments pouring in, a resort heaven, shopping

Bordercrossing: Morphing Back to Indonesian TV

2006-09-18T23:27:00.000+09:00

Indonesian TV welcoming me back again in paradise.......on the ferry from Singapore to Batam:1) Bird Flu2) The usual price hikes before Idul Fitri3) Bus drivers on strike again...4) The man-made Mudflood disaster in East Java...still going strong after 100 days

The Other Multicultural Singapore

2006-09-16T20:56:00.000+09:00

A KTV in Orchard road.Need better statistics to explain the real racial demographics of Singapore ?

Kyoto Hooked on Indonesian Kretek Cigarettes?

2006-09-05T07:51:00.000+09:00

Gudang Garamu MairudoThese Gudang Garam clove cigarettes (320 Yen/pack), manufactured in Kediri, East Java are sold widely throughout Japan, even in this small tobacco corner at Kawaramachi-Imadegawa-dori, 200m from the Kyoto Imperial Palace, where it even takes vending machine status (meaning it's a quick seller). As the Indonesian community in Kyoto is quite small, one can only guess that many

Laos: Where's Communism ?

2006-01-15T18:10:00.000+09:00

The Thai border fence at Chiang Khong overlooking the Laotian side of the MekongAfter a relaxed slow-boat trip from the northernmost Thai - Lao border along the Mekong at Chiang Khong - Houxay, we finally berthed at a small Lao village named Muong Pakbeng. It was my first encounter with Southeast Asian communism: raised hammer and sickle flags of the Lao communist Party on every guesthouse. It

A Day Out With The Malaysian Border Police

2005-11-18T15:04:00.000+09:00

Road leading to the Sarawak - Kalimantan border near Lubok AntuRetro JournalsFrom one of my early bordercrossing experiences back in March 2003 when I researched undocumented bordercrossings in Central Borneo. I thought it would be a bit tricky to conduct interviews and field observations around Lubok Antu, a small bordertown in Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo) - especially being an "INDON"* myself. It

Stateless in Borneo: Indon Underground Workers in Sarawak

2005-01-06T16:22:00.000+09:00

This is an unedited version of a published article I wrote for (the late) LATITUDES magazine (August 2004 edition).It was late December 2002 when I arrived in Long Mekaba, a small Kenyah Dayak village in the Upper Baram river, deep in Sarawak, one of the two states that constitute the Malaysian territories of Borneo. My objective was to find illegal Indonesian workers to be interviewed for my